Soul Is Essence Of Being Human

November 1, 2002|By Rabbi Kalman Packouz Special Correspondent

How do you know that you have a soul?

Have you asked yourself that question or have you taken it for granted that you do or don't?

What would happen if you woke up in the morning, looked in the mirror and instead of seeing yourself, you saw an image of someone completely different? Would you ask, "Who am I?" or would you ask, "What happened to my body?"

Your essence is something other than your physical self.

Why is it that people will sacrifice themselves to help or save others, to put their life in danger for complete strangers? People will give up their lives rather than take the lives of strangers.

There is something in the makeup of every human being that goes far beyond survival of the fittest -- giving up one's own life is not the way for an individual or a species to survive.

Why is it that when someone does something wrong, they tend to see themselves as right and righteous, whether it is a person cutting off someone in traffic or Adolf Hitler, may his name and memory be obliterated, announcing that the Germans are the only truly moral people? The "proof" of his claim: While the Germans were sending millions to death camps, they were setting up societies to take care of their pets. Why do we need to see ourselves as righteous?

There is something unique in human beings. Our Torah teaches that we have a soul and that is the essence of a human being. The body is the vessel that houses the soul and allows it to have expression and development in the physical world. The soul is eternal and is subject to the consequences of our actions and receives reward and punishment.

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto, an 18th century Italian, explained it this way: God created two separate time periods. The first period is called the "Period of Effort and Striving." This is the period we are living in. In this period, we struggle to live a Torah life and perform Torah commandments, despite the distractions we run into every day. This is where we earn the goodness. This period is temporary, as it ends with death.

The second period, called the "Period of Reward," starts after death. During that time, the soul will receive the goodness that it earned. This period is eternal.

Rabbi Kalman Packouz is executive director of the Aish HaTorah Jerusalem Fund, South Florida. You can subscribe to the Aish HaTorah Shabbat Shalom fax for free by calling 305-535-2474.